保羅·艾倫（Paul Allen）去世了。他是我最早結識的朋友之一，也是我的第一個生意夥伴。我想向他的姐姐喬迪（Jody）和家族成員，以及他在世界各地的眾多朋友和同事致以哀悼。
我七年級時遇見保羅，這改變了我的人生。
我立刻抬頭看了看他。他在學校比我高兩個年級，個子特別高，是個眾所周知的計算機天才（後來，他又留了一款很酷的鬍子，我從沒在這點上超過他）。我們開始在一起混，特別是在我們的學校有了第一臺電腦之後。我們幾乎把所有閒暇時間都消磨在任何我們可以接觸到的電腦上。
這是我們在學校時的樣子。左邊是保羅，中間是我們的朋友瑞克·韋蘭（Ric Weiland），右邊是我。
保羅預見到計算機會改變世界。即使還在高中，在我們中還沒人知道個人電腦是什麼之前，他就預測到計算機芯片會變得超級強大，而且最終會帶來一個嶄新的行業。我們一起做的所有事情，都是基於他的這一洞察力。
事實上，沒有保羅，微軟永遠不會誕生。1974年12月，我和他都住在波士頓一帶，他在工作，而我在上大學。有一天他來找我，堅持要帶我去附近的一個報攤。當我們到了那兒，他拿給我看1月份的《大眾電子》（Popular Electronics），封面上是一臺名為Altair 8800的新電腦，由一個強大的新型芯片驅動。保羅看著我說：“這居然在沒有我們的情況下發生了！”那一刻標誌著我大學生涯的結束，以及我們新公司微軟的開始。它的發生都是因為保羅。
作為我的第一個搭檔，保羅設定了一個很少有人能企及的標準。他思想開闊，還有一種特別的能力，能用簡單的方式解釋複雜的問題。由於我幸運地在如此年輕的時候就認識了他，所以我領先於全世界其他人發現了他的這個才能。青少年時期，我在所有事物裡尤其對汽油感到好奇。“精煉”是什麼意思？我向我所認識的最有學問的人請教。保羅以一種超級清晰又有趣的方式做出瞭解釋。這只是我們在之後幾十年中進行的許多具有啟發性的對話之一。
保羅比我酷。他十幾歲時迷上了吉米·亨德里克斯（Jimi Hendrix），我還記得他為我表演《你有經驗嗎？》（Are You Experienced?）。當時我對一切都沒什麼經驗，而保羅想要和我分享這些動人的音樂。他就是這樣一種人，熱愛生活和身邊的人，大家也看到了這一點。
體育是另外一項保羅喜歡與朋友分享的個人愛好。在隨後幾年裡，他會帶我去看他鐘愛的波特蘭開拓者隊的比賽，並且耐心地幫助我看明白球場上發生的一切。
想到保羅，他在我的記憶中是一個充滿熱情的人，十分看重家人和朋友；他還是一位傑出的技術專家和慈善家，想要成就偉大的事，並且做到了這一點。
保羅應當活得更久一些，他一定會充分利用這些時間。我將非常地懷念他。
What I loved about Paul Allen
By Bill Gates |October 16, 2018
Paul Allen, one of my oldest friends and the first business partner I ever had, died yesterday. I want to extend my condolences to his sister, Jody, his extended family, and his many friends and colleagues around the world.
I met Paul when I was in 7thgrade, and it changed my life.
I looked up to him right away. He was two years ahead of me in school, really tall, and proved to be a genius with computers. (Later, he also had a very cool beard, which I could never pull off.) We started hanging out together, especially once the first computer arrived at our school. We spent just about all our free time messing around with any computer we could get our hands on.
Here we are in school. That’s Paul on the left, our friend Ric Weiland, and me on the right.
Paul foresaw that computers would change the world. Even in high school, before any of us knew what a personal computer was, he was predicting that computer chips would get super-powerful and would eventually give rise to a whole new industry. That insight of his was the cornerstone of everything we did together.
In fact, Microsoft would never have happened without Paul. In December 1974, he and I were both living in the Boston area—he was working, and I was going to college. One day he came and got me, insisting that I rush over to a nearby newsstand with him. When we arrived, he showed me the cover of the January issue ofPopular Electronics. It featured a new computer called the Altair 8800, which ran on a powerful new chip. Paul looked at me and said: “This is happening without us!” That moment marked the end of my college career and the beginning of our new company, Microsoft. It happened because of Paul.
As the first person I ever partnered with, Paul set a standard that few other people could meet. He had a wide-ranging mind and a special talent for explaining complicated subjects in a simple way. Since I was lucky enough to know him from such a young age, I saw that before the rest of the world did. As a teenager, I was curious about (of all things) gasoline. What did “refining” even mean? I turned to the most knowledgeable person I knew. Paul explained it in a super-clear and interesting way. It was just one of many enlightening conversations we would have over the coming decades.
Paul was cooler than I was. He was really into Jimi Hendrix as a teenager, and I remember him playingAre You Experienced?for me. I wasn’t experienced at much of anything back then, and Paul wanted to share this amazing music with me. That’s the kind of person he was. He loved life and the people around him, and it showed.
Sports was another passion that Paul loved to share with his friends. In later years he would take me to see his beloved Portland Trail Blazers and patiently helped me understand everything that was happening on the court.
When I think about Paul, I remember a passionate man who held his family and friends dear. I also remember a brilliant technologist and philanthropist who wanted to accomplish great things, and did.
Paul deserved more time in life. He would have made the most of it. I will miss him tremendously.返回騰訊網首頁>>
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